Meet the couples who have returned home to tie the knot.. because there’s no place like Scotland

00:01, 5 Oct 2014

ByScotland Now

DESPITE leaving Scotland for work and love, these two couples knew there was only one place where they wanted to get married and that was back here.

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Kari and Calum Caldwell

THESE two couples made their vows in front of their family and friends in 2014, the official year of Homecoming.

Meet the couples who have returned home to tie the knot - because there’s no place like Scotland.

Kari and Calum are both from East Kilbride and met through a mutual friend in late 2007.

By 2008 they were a couple and six years on they are happily married.

The pair got engaged in November 2011 before jetting off to visit Kari’s brother-in-law in Australia.

While there, they fell in love with the country and decided to move there on a 12-month working visa.

Initially they had planned to move there for nine months so they could be home to organise their wedding.

But they both loved it and Calum’s job had sponsored them to stay on a four-year visa. It meant they would only be able to come home before their wedding and fly straight back to Australia.

Kari said: “Fortunately I had gone wedding dress shopping with my mum and bridesmaids the month before leaving home and I’d already found my dream dress.

“We had booked the venue – The Vu in Bathgate, West Lothian – a few months after getting engaged and had a photographer booked too.

“All the main things were organised.” Planning the rest of their big day from the other side of the world meant Kari used Whatsapp and Facebook to co-ordinate things.

She said: “My mum and the bridesmaids had to go dress shopping while I was in Australia, which was very stressful.

“I’d sent them lots of photos of styles and had always imagined them in a silver or grey colour but this didn’t quite go to plan.

“On visiting Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo Bridal Boutique in East Kilbride, it became clear that neither bridesmaid suited the colour I had planned. I couldn’t thank Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo enough, they were amazing.

“They sent me photos via Whatsapp of my bridesmaids in different styles and colours.

“I found the perfect colour and we all agreed on a beautiful style.

“Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo had never met me but were going to great effort for me. When the dresses arrived, they noticed a flaw in the material and sent them back to be changed.” Kari had to deal with everything via email, sending photo ideas of flowers, cakes and invitations on a private Facebook photo album for her mum and bridesmaids. She also set up a group chat on Whatsapp with them.

Both of the couple’s parents helped out organising buses, and writing and sending the invitations.

Kari flew home six weeks before the wedding on May 23 this year to deal with dress fittings and all the little extras such as picking her shoes, tiara, jewellery and table decorations. Calum flew home two weeks before the day.

Kari said: “We went back to Australia and to work a few days after the wedding. So we do hope to have a late honeymoon at some point.

“It meant a lot to us to be married at home in Scotland as it has so much more meaning than somewhere that has only been home for year.”

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Lynne and Zac returned to Scotland

Lynne and Zac, both 33, met five years ago and married on April 17 this year in the beautiful surroundings of House for an Art Lover.

Set in the grounds of Bellahouston Park, this Mackintosh-inspired Glasgow building provides a wonderful setting for a wedding, something the couple were keen on. Lynne is originally from Bishopton, near Glasgow, and Zac is from Dewsbury in Yorkshire. However, he studied at Edinburgh College of Art so considers Scotland a second home.

They met while doing their Masters at London’s Royal College of Art and have been together ever since. After graduating, they moved to north London and are still living there with their one-year-old son.

On Valentine’s Day 2013, Zac popped the question.

Lynne said: “He made a romantic meal for us both and proposed with a hand-made ring he co-designed with our friend Victoria of the Quarter Workshop in Birmingham. It was perfect.”

For Lynne and Zac it was an easy decision to get married in Scotland.

They had both been to House for an Art Lover a few times before, including to a friend’s wedding there.

Lynne said: “It was perfect for us, especially with Zac being an artist and myself being a jewellery designer.”

Once the venue was booked, the planning could get under way. Lynne didn’t feel like it was too difficult to plan their wedding from London as technology made things much less stressful.

She said: “Most things were arranged via phone and email, which worked out well and when we could, we would come back to Scotland for meetings with the venue and celebrant.

“We also did quite a few things ourselves. We made our own invitations, favours, guestbook cards and felt happy that we were able to add our own personal touch.”

Lynne bought a silk dress off the peg from J Crew and her mum did the hem so that avoided endless and expensive dress fittings.

They left the flowers to a florist friend and booked a photographer just to come along on the day. There was no honeymoon, just a couple of days in the Art House Hotel in Glasgow. In July they and their son went on a five-star holiday to Porto Santo, Portugal.

Planning took just five months and Lynne says she wouldn’t have changed a thing about their wedding.